Tatasky HD Or Dish TV HD Or Reliance BIG TV HD Or Sun Direct HD Or Airtel HD?

[Mohanrao]

Many of us have same question and if these are not enough Videocon going to launch HD DVR box on Oct so customers like us have big issue to choose which one! I am using Dish TV since 2003 and I am very happy with packages but quality was issue so I was going to change it before 2 months but with recent launch of HD I am confused! Even I read Reviews of each HD DTHs:

In-depth Tata Sky HD Review
Exclusive: Airtel Digital TV HD STB Pictures And Information
Reliance BIG TV HD DVR Review And Features
Dish TV Announced HD Service Dish Tru HD
Sun Direct HD Review

I am still not come on decision points as none of HD DTH demo is available in my area ( I am 17 Km away from H'bad City )! I am sure many of you might have seen it!

Please help me to choose best HD DTH for me. I need this:

- Budget around 6000-7000 Rs
- Better Packages
- 5:1 Aspect ratio
- 5.1 Surround system
- Major Telugu Channels ( Other South Indian Channels will welcome )
- Long term offer will be first preference.

 

[sanjay0864]

The easy part is eliminating who not to get. 'Dish TruHD' is a totally out. 'Big TV HD' also I think should be out. 'Airtel Digital HD' atleast based on the content offered should also be ruled out. That leaves you with only 'TataSky HD' & 'SunDirect HD'. Overall as of today, I think that TataSky HD makes the most sense. on the other hand, for people who are looking for South Indian programming, 'SunDirect HD' probably makes more sense. In any case, Dish TruHD, BIG TV HD & Airtel Digital HD should be totally ruled out.

 

[dgtl887]

The easy part is eliminating who not to get. 'Dish TruHD' is a totally out.

How come ?

 

[srikarkav]

How come ?

Hi,
I think sanjay owns a DishTV HD and he is not satisfied with it.I remember him saying in another thread thet Dish HD does not have 5.1 Dolby sound.

cheers,
sri

 

[sworld]

I had installed TataSKY HD, Go for it

 

[adder]

Well with your budget you can simply rule out sun direct,compared to competition it priced quite high.
If you want HD-PVR then you have only one option now which is big tv.

B/W TS and airtel , i think Tata sky is better option.

 

[arnab_d]

I think on that thread Sanjay also mentioned that in Dish TV SD channels the Aspect ratio is stretched if coming over the HDMI cable...and if you want to see SD channels in proper Aspect ratio, you have to use the component video cable.. this does make things quite cumbersome if true.. can someone else with Dish Tv HD validate the issues reported...

 

[Spidey]

Guys,

I think there is undue rush for getting HD sets when the market is still in developing stage.
You may end up being a experiment. And only 2 to 3 HD channels being offered.

Wisest desicion would be to wait and watch.

And after all, who has seen PHENOMENAL improvement in picture quality with HD set-top box ??

 

[dgtl887]

Wisest desicion would be to wait and watch.

Had prices been what they are for Sun HD or what they were for Dish HD initially, I would have agreed. But at under 3k, I don't think there's any need to wait it out. I mean, how much lower can prices get ? SD boxes are 1.5k at this stage.

 

[sanjay0864]

Come on guys, Rs. 2500 is the cost of a dinner out. How much more do you think the prices can come down?

 

[pnreddy]

Come on guys, Rs. 2500 is the cost of a dinner out. How much more do you think the prices can come down?

Has anyone compared the cost of the monthly packages of the different HD providers? In the long run it is the monthly charges that should determine the choice of the channel partner. Right now I have a Videcon with a diamond pack and it costs Rs.275/month. Samething in TS costs about Rs.350 - Rs.400/month.

P.N. Reddy

 

[Dushie]

Come on guys, Rs. 2500 is the cost of a dinner out. How much more do you think the prices can come down?

Actually you end up spending less than 2k.

I took a multi room connection. In the offer i get 2 months free also HD channels free for 1 year. That roughly knocks out around Rs 780 from the total price paid.

Apart from the fact that even if they add new channels or revise the HD pricing at least for 1 year it is free and nothing to worry.

If i consider the above the effective price comes below 2k for an HD box.

Don't think it can get cheaper than this as the quality of the hardware seems to be good. Till now i have not faced any issues and its working great on HD channels.

 

[adder]

@dushie
how much off on the second connection in TS HD after the free period get over.

 

[Dushie]

Multiroom connection the monthly charges are Rs 150 per month. All the channels that are there in the primary connection will come in the multiroom.

They have made my HD box as primary and old STB as multiroom.

I saw a date of 15th July for this offer but it may get extended or it may not as the demand is high.

 

[Mohanrao]

Thanks guys for good views and feedback! Sun Direct HD is good but sports channels are costly! I heard that Videocon D2H is also coming in next 2 months!

Should I wait or go for TataSky HD?

 

[adder]

Well Big tv is said to considering reducing the prices of its HD pvr,but for now i think TS HD makes sense,SUN HD is just too expensive for what it offers.

 

[danccc]

I think the general consensus in towards TS HD.

Personally I would wait for the TS HD PVR (As an upgrade or replacement to the TS+) as I have only one TV and would not want to trash my current TS PVR.

 

[adder]

Well why not airtel SD ch PQ from what i have seen in there regular stb is still better then DISH tv which is the worst.

there is no such thing has DTH ment for north and south ,I am from south and sun DTH was last in my list and still is.

 

[adder]

well thr is..take for eg Sun, it has Telugu HD,Tamil HD plus Sun Tv upscaled in its list,which others r not offering,,so for south users Sun offers more..similarly take Dish Hd ,it has ZEe Tv& Zee cinema upscaled.So a north user will be more inclined to buy Dish as opposed to Sun.Urs case may be an exception,may be ur priorities differ from a common south user.
dont know y people will consider airtel as of now.Plus they seem to hv no TP space left to add anything new.So airtel is big no.

Well the main turn off in SUN HD is the huge price.
Upscaled HD content really doesn't count,your HDtv upscales to,perhaps the DTH companies have a better upscaler.
See in my house i have big tv and airtel.i Did consider the Sun but choose big tv for its PQ edge and airtel better service.All the south packages of telugu,kannada,tamil are active.

my another south friend has TS and Sun dth and big tv,he is upgrading to TS HD soon but not SUN HD.
In my street there are 16 residential houses .there are a total of 7 DTH dishes in their respective terrace and those are 3 TS and 2 airtel and 1 Big and dish tv and no SUN direct and most of them who own them are native south indians whose native language are kannada,telugu.
In the street behind again its mostly TS and dish no SUN dth.

Sun may be popular in tamil nadu but not necessarily other states.

 

[Ketan]

I have done those eliminations a few days back. I'm using TS for past 3+ years now. For HD, I'm waiting to see if they can get us the DVR option at a good rate so I can upgrade two things at a time, DVR+PQ when I go for HD.
I have Airtel and TS in my mind based on their service and PQ. Airtel because, they have MPEG4 (Though I dont know how much a big difference it can make against MPEG2 by TS) and they have a seperate box for DVR that can scaled - I dont know if the same DVR can be used with HD DTH as well!! I have a couple questions if you guys have any idea about.

1> Do you think TS is going to come up with HD+DVR soon? It would be good if they come up with a seperate box for DVR in future, not forcing you to upgrade again from your normal HD STB
2> Does the DVR box available from Airtel work with Airtel HD STB? If so, I can go with the Airtel HD STB and also get the DVR they are providing (I read it has got HDMI port so can definately play back HD content right!)